


Vulnerabilities

by Quiddity



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (Dinner & A Show), Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Claude as a plot device, M/M, Porn & Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiddity/pseuds/Quiddity
Summary: “Nothin’ bad’s gonna happen,” Balthus says easily, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, towards the staircase leading down from the monastery. “You just gotta point and say ‘Balthus, kick their asses,’ and boom. Done. Problem solved.” Yuri visibly tries to remain very serious, but he only manages it for a couple seconds before it breaks into a bitten smile, his laugh catching in his throat as he tries to stifle it. And again. Balthus just wants to touch him. Wants to tug that wet, painted lip from his bite with his thumb, more alluring than anything found in a brothel.“You really have a way of simplifying things,” Yuri sighs.Sometimes you dare your friend to find a distraction with you. Sometimes he takes you up on it. Sometimes it takes years to admit you really, really like each other.
Relationships: Balthazar von Adalbrecht | Balthus von Albrecht/Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc
Comments: 11
Kudos: 92





	Vulnerabilities

**Author's Note:**

> Me: I'm just gonna write some quick porn  
> 11k of Emotions: are you sure?
> 
> Idk why everything has to be An Entire Thing with me. I enjoyed this. I enjoy writing Balthus bc I stan himbos. I made some rather big plot (plot! that was never supposed to be here in the first place!) decisions literally as i was editing this. Thanks for readin' I hope y'all like it please let me know what you think.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on in there?” Balthus asks. He’s lounging on a bench near the outskirts of the Abyss settlement, eyes squinted at he tries to decode Yuri’s expression. “I’m gettin’ a headache trying to read your mind here.”

“Oh hush,” Yuri sighs. His face relaxes, a mask put on, but his boot heel still taps on the stone, a click barely heard over the river behind them. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Didn’t say you wasn’t,” Balthus says. He meets Yuri’s eye. The smaller man tries to dodge him. “Honestly, ever since all that chalice bullshit went down, you’ve been on edge.” Yuri is quiet for a long moment, still refusing to look at him, fine fingers tapping at his chin. He looks… anxious. Like Balthus just happened upon some gap in his endless confidence to see what’s really beneath. It bothers him somewhere deep in his chest in a way he can’t quite define. An uneasy revelation he pushes back before he can really have it and forces a laugh. “I’m just teasin’ ya-”

“Must be worse than I thought if even you’re seeing through me,” Yuri interrupts. Then he glances to him, eyes wide like he’s not sure how much he likes having revealed that if he didn’t really have to. Balthus motions for him to continue. “I thought Hapi was teasing me when she said I looked like I was thinking too hard.”

Balthus shifts so Yuri can sit next to him. His palm itches when Yuri crosses his legs and his slacks pull tight across his thigh. He clenches his hand into a fist, chalks it up to a random impulse. “To be fair, you looked like you were thinking pret-ty hard a second ago. But also I can’t tell with Hapi a lot of the time so…” He expects Yuri to laugh. He doesn’t and that just troubles him further. It’s not used to Yuri being stressed. The guy was as serene and dangerous as a damned mountain cat. But since Aelfric’s uh, moved on, Yuri had been a little different. A little thinner and worn around the edges. But he knew about Aelfric all along! So it didn’t make sense that he’d be beat up over it. So what? Was he just used to Yuri being extra sneaky because he had been hiding the fact that he’d been playing both them and Aelfric all that time. And now he was seeing Yuri being more of himself? He grumbles, thinking. Nah. Yuri being anything but the competent leader was too hard to imagine. “What, you scared someone’s gonna jump you down here now that all the kids know about us?”

To his surprise, Yuri hesitates, tugging at a loose thread on his coat. “Kinda, yeah,” he admits. Then he grins at Balthus. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I think I really liked being a secret. But now so many people know about us and… I don’t know. I keep worrying. The last thing I want is for Abyss to be dragged into anything bad happening up top. I couldn’t bear for Abyss not to be a safe haven anymore.”

“Nothin’ bad’s gonna happen,” Balthus says easily. There’s a glint in Yuri’s eye. It makes Balthus feel like Yuri knows something he doesn’t, but when was that ever not true? “First of all, you ain’t got any proof. Second, even if things do go south for some reason, you won’t let anything bad happen to Abyss. You’re way too clever and stubborn to allow it. And any assholes try to come down those stairs?” he says, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, towards the staircase leading down from the monastery. “You just gotta point and say ‘Balthus, kick their asses,’ and boom. Done. Problem solved.” Yuri visibly tries to remain very serious, but he only manages it for a couple seconds before it breaks into a bitten smile, his laugh catching in his throat as he tries to stifle it. And again. Balthus just wants to touch him. Wants to tug that wet, painted lip from his bite with his thumb, more alluring than anything found in a brothel.

“You really have a way of simplifying things,” Yuri sighs.

“Well, yeah. I get confused if I let them get complicated,” he says easily, though his heart pounds against his ribs. “You feeling any better?” Yuri shrugs.

“For the moment. Talking to you always helps, but…”

“Then methinks you need a distraction,” Balthus interrupts before Yuri can even finish his thought. He leans back and twitches his jacket further open, so his torso is on full display. Yuri huffs, but his eyes trail down and he takes a long look, his mouth slacking a little and-

Damn, that’s really doing something for him. He’s belly flexes in response to the low wave of heat that pools under his skin. Yuri’s eyes, after a too long, too quiet moment, flick back up to his own. His smile is mischievous and wow, Balthus imagines him reaching out, scratching those well kept nails over his chest and-

“You know that doesn’t work on me.” The heat cools too fast, leaving a tight, frustrating emptiness. He isn’t entirely sure why it feels different now, when Yuri’s told him the same exact thing a hundred times before. He certainly doesn’t know why the hell he voices the next thing that just pops into his mind.

“Well, maybe you need something a little more hands on.” Yuri’s mouth drops open in shock, then he laughs, bright and aching.

“ _Balthus._ ” Balthus tosses his hands up.

“What? I meant find something to do. Poke around the church and make people think you’re up to something. Go to the marketplace. Hell, maybe you’ll run into one of my debtors and that’ll really distract you from whatever doom you’re coming up with,” he says. Yuri hums, glancing towards the staircase.

“Perhaps I will. You coming with me?” he asks.

“Uhm, no. The debtors thing wasn’t a joke…” he says. As badly as he wants to, because there was nothing better than watching Yuri work his charms on someone wholly unprepared for him. Yuri mouths a silent ‘oh’. Yuri stands, and as he does he sets his hand on Balthus’ shoulder, just beside his neck. Goosebumps rise on his skin beneath Yuri’s slightly cool fingers. He doesn’t look up at him as he leaves. Instead he stares out at the dark corridors of Abyss, imagining Yuri pushing his fingers up into his hair, the feel of his soft wrist against his lips. It feels like minutes before he’s able to move again, and only then it’s to go to the bar. Maybe a drink will get the imprint of Yuri’s hand off of his skin.

  
  


  
  


Late the next night Balthus thinks that he’s more or less forgotten about the conversation beside the river. Sure, there were the weird, vaguely sexual intrusive thoughts but, well… he was a man. That wasn’t really out of place for him. He’d still have to come up with something to settle Yuri’s nerves though. That didn’t quite stit that well with him. Really, it didn’t seem like him to get worked up over what ifs. He was more self assured than that. The effort of thinking is keeping him out of bed, has him wandering around the halls long after most residents of Abyss have turned in for the night.

“Commere,” a voice calls from an empty classroom. Balthus stops short, squints into the inky darkness. They shift and he sees the toe of a familiar white book. “It’s only me, Balthus,” Yuri says, motions quickly with his hand. “I need someone to talk to for a minute.” Balthus gets within a step of the doorway before Yuri meets him, grips him by the sleeve and tugs him in, pushing him into a dark corner. He’s breathing hard.

“Hey, uh, what’s up?” he whispers. Partly because Yuri wouldn’t pull him aside like this for something he could just tell him outright. Partly just because it’s dark and quiet and some instinct in him thinks he’ll wake someone up despite no one being around. He can feel his eyes straining in the darkness. Yuri is a pretty shape in the slice of candlelight coming in from the hall. His eyes are bright, jaw tight, tongue glistening as he runs them across his lips.

“In a minute,” he says. He edges further into Balthus’ space, crowds him against one of the benches. He pushes up on his toes, spreads his hands across his chest. Balthus’ suddenly has trouble breathing. Cool hands, just like yesterday, palms brushing over his nipples. Yuri huffs. Balthus feels his breath across his jaw and oh, shit, he’s shivering at the thought of Yuri kissing him. “Sit.” Yuri orders.

“O-okay,” Balthus stutters. He paws around in the darkness, finds the seat and settles into it, his back against the tabletop. Yuri moves in front of him and he swallows thickly, thinking that same damned thing about his lips as the day before. He wants to touch them. “So what’s going-”

“I’m remembering something you said yesterday. Something about a hands on distraction?” Balthus’ heart can hardly catch up with the implications before Yuri tugs at him with cool hands on his jaw. He leans in and catches Balthus with his mouth open, sweeping his tongue across his lips. Balthus grunts. Yuri sucks on his lip, delicate teeth tugging before Balthus can catch up to him. Goosebumps rise on his skin, tingling down his back. That warmth surges up low in his belly, sudden and surprising as a punch to the gut. Yuri pulls back, lips shiny, eyes swimming with uncertainty.

“Sorry, I-”

“No.”

“Okay,” Yuri starts to pull back.

“No, shit, I meant-” Balthus grips Yuri by the back of his neck, thumb pressing in just behind his ear. Goddess, there’s no resistance to him when Balthus jerks him back in and attacks his mouth. Rough and messy. Balthus swallows the delighted moan Yuri breathes over his tongue. The smaller man shudders when he grips a warm, tight thigh and hauls him into his lap.

He’s still wandering what this is all about, in the back of his mind. Thoroughly buried under the feeling of Yuri’s lips moving against his own and the floral scent of his cologne, barely there after a day’s wear. Yuri didn’t do anything without reason. What gives? He should stop and ask, but it’s hard to find the heart to do so when Yuri fits so perfectly in his lap and tips his head, trailing his mouth down the side of his neck. When he does finally open his mouth to ask, all that comes out with a breathy groan. He leans his head back and Yuri nibbles at the pounding pulse in his throat. He shuffles, presses closer and Balthus guides his weight against his hips. Less than he expected, but more than enough to distract him from any further thinking.

“Mn, you’re already hard,” Yuri muses. His hands find their way down his chest. Fingers trace a circle around one of his nipples. He pinches, sharp and sudden. Balthus shakes.

“Yeah, Yuri- you climb in a guy’s lap and that tends to happen- agh…” Yuri pinches him again and rolls his hips forward at the same time, jolting a rough, hungry moan out of him. It’s too loud for these quiet halls but the look Yuri gives him when he sits up straight and bites at his mouth dares him to take it further. He shifts again, fumbling only long enough to trap Balthus’ throbbing cock beneath him.

It hurts, lodged in his pants and against Yuri’s thigh, even more when Balthus grips him around that narrow waist and holds him down as he ruts against him. His hips jerk up, frustrated by the layers of fabric and the fact that he can’t even tell if Yuri is also hard through them. Yuri gives a bright, almost giddy laugh when he’s jostled. He circles his free arm around his neck, nipping at the shell of Balthus’ ear.

“You’re gonna come,” Yuri purrs. An observation.

“Fuck, I might-” he concedes. Yuri rakes his nails down his belly. He groans, loud, flexes around that desperate knot of heat in his gut and yeah-

He can’t.

Balthus shoves his hand between them, gripping Yuri’s wrist with a dangerous growl. “Don’t.”

“Hm?” Yuri hums. He stops trying to reach down, but he fluffs the dark trail of hair beneath his navel. Balthus can only shudder as Yuri’s breath puffs sweetly down his neck. “You don’t want to?”

‘Yes,’ he thinks. For a moment he wants nothing more than to let Yuri’s wrist free and allow him to do whatever he pleases. Goddess, he can see Yuri drawing his cock out, slender fingers wrapped around his heavy length, his come sticking to his fingers, disappearing behind his lips-

“ **No**.” He says, firm enough that Yuri stiffens in his lap. A deep breath. He leads Yuri’s wayward hand back up around his shoulders, but when his own spare tries to pet the small of Yuri’s back, the smaller man squirms away until he has to give up on it. “I want you to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Yuri says. Too fast. Too quiet. Balthus gives him a stern look.

“Listen, I know you’re thinkin’ too hard about something. I could see it on your face earlier. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a hundred percent willing to be a distraction if you need it. But you gotta fill me in, too. A trade, yeah?”

Yuri is quiet for a long time. Long enough for Balthus to worry that he’s about to drop something devastating on him. Or worse, that Yuri will decide not to tell him anything at all and he’ll just have to deal with the frustration of being left in the dark with a flagging arousal. “Hm?” he finally prods, and tightens his grip around Yuri’s waist so he can’t escape. He doesn’t try to.

“My people keep telling me there’s a lot of movement in the south. Towns for miles around the monastery are crowded, but no one can say exactly why.” The teasing, alluring Yuri from a minute ago is gone. Now he only looks tired, his anxiety laid bare. Balthus’ need dampens even more under the realization.

“Yesterday too huh? And before?” Yuri won’t look at him. “You’re bad, man. Using poor old Balthus as a distraction,” he coos it, teasing, and he’s rewarded with a tiny smile at the corner of Yuri’s mouth. His body relaxed by a couple degrees across his legs.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“I make a good distraction,” he purrs. Then more seriously: “But you think something’s going down?”

“Has to,” Yuri sighs, more relaxed but still just as somber. “People don’t gather like this for no reason.”

“Somethin’ big?”

“Yeah.”

Balthus tips his head to look Yuri in the eye, their noses nearly brushing. He presses in. He wants to kiss him again, but Yuri only allows him the barest brush of lips before he arches away from him. His heart sinks, a little hurt but… what can he expect. His first kiss with him was probably five minutes ago. “So what do we want to do?” Yuri shivers.

“I don’t know. I want to board everything up. I want to hoard every kind of supplies I can get my hands on. I want to pack everyone up and leave. I want to fight,” he’s starting to work himself up again as he speaks. He starts to pant. Balthus squeezes him again. “I need to do something, anything, but I don’t know enough yet to know what’s the right course to take. What if I sink a lot of time and money into something useless and I put everyone in danger?”

He’s never heard Yuri talk like this. He’s never seen this side of him and Balthus realizes when Yuri gives him a sideways, pleading look, that Yuri is placing this in trust with him. This is what is going through his head and it seems so obvious now that Yuri doesn’t always know exactly what to do, or who to side with. Okay, so he can’t kiss him right now, but that doesn’t mean anything when Yuri is offering him his insecurities instead. Balthus squeezes his hip, lets his hand rest there.

“First of all, cool it,” he starts. Where’s he going with this? He doesn’t know. He’ll just do what he always does and just voice whatever thought pops into his head next. “No one’s kicking in the doors right now. Second, get some sleep. It’s a couple hours til dawn, yeah? And you haven’t gotten any rest. You’ll think better once you do.” Yuri tries to tell him he doesn’t know that he’s not slept, but Balthus gives him a firm look that says he absolutely knows he hasn’t. “Third, just trust yourself. I trust you. The girls trust you. Everyone in Abyss trusts you. You have the gut for this stuff and no matter what you decide to have us do it’ll be the right thing because you’ll make it the right thing. You won’t settle for anything else. You’re…” Balthus sighs. He wants to hold him, pull him close, bury his nose in Yuri’s soft, silky hair and kiss him but… he can’t ask for anymore than what Yuri is already offering. “You’re okay.”

“Anyone else telling me to sleep it off and that any choice is the right one… That would really piss me off,” Yuri murmurs. It’s hard to tell in the dim light, but Yuri looks tired, like his eyes suddenly gave in and admitted it when Balthus pointed out his lack of sleep.

“Yeah, but I mean it,” Balthus says.

“Mhm,” Yuri rest his forehead on Balthus’ shoulder and brings his hand back between them, fingertips grazing low across his stomach. His half-hard cock twitches in interest. “Do you want me to…?” Balthus thinks, he really thinks. He wants it. Bad. And he can hardly believe Yuri would still be interested in finishing this after he’d called him out but… Circling back right now feels like taking advantage of Yuri when he’s already worn too thin.

“… Maybe later,” he says. Yuri gives a weak, huffing laugh. “Right now I wanna make sure you go to bed and don’t stay up all night like some stupid bastard.”

“Alright,” he breathes. “I think I can manage that.” They get up, and Balthus follows Yuri all the way back to his room, his stubborn erection plaguing him the entire way. The damn thing even twitches when Yuri gives it one last (longing?) look and Balthus almost has to shut the door on him so he can retreat to his own room and get rid of it himself.

  
  


  
  


Six weeks later, the world turns on its head. Edelgard takes the Adrestian crown and her first task is to bring the might of the Empire crashing against the church. Balthus felt like he’d hardly slept in a week, but in the end he was beyond grateful that he trusted Yuri’s nameless dread and helped him prepare. A bit of reinforcement, hoarding a little supplies, a couple fighting lessons for volunteers and Balthus thought Abyss had made it through the siege pretty well.

But then Yuri had pointed out that Edelgard knew exactly how to access Abyss, but there had been notably few attackers through the battle. She must have either neglected to tell her legions about the tunnels or forbade them to attack Abyss outright.

And for weeks afterwards, Yuri is harder to read than ever. It’s hard to keep up with him. It’s like that vague anxiety had been a door, and now that it’s opened, Yuri’s found a hundred new things to stress over. Relieved that Abyss made it through the battle as well as they did. But what next? Scared as he throws himself into further preparations, torn in two directions: below ground and above. Absolutely, wordlessly furious that he’s been tossed into this in the first place, that the safety of Abyss had ever been put to the test at all. Towards the helpless, fussing mother hen trying to right a million wrongs. Towards his followers, a stern leader who, now more than ever, simply cannot tolerate anything except total obedience. Yuri navigating Abyss through Fodlan in war feels like he’s trying to tame a pit of snakes.

Balthus isn’t used to his new inability to sleep. He’s not scared of losing a fight, of death, of balking at a crucial moment. But the uncertainty of what his future looks like digs into his skin, squeezes his mind until he just lies in bed most nights with a headache threatening at his temples.

Last week, Claude had appeared in Abyss’ tavern, every bit a too-bright, _surface dweller,_ while Yuri and Balthus were drinking. He’d asked them to act as generals for the Alliance in the coming war. Balthus had hemmed and hawed over it because, of course, he needed little excuse to go home and protect his family. But there was also Abyss, and everyone in it. Though not blood, they were also family. The Knights of Seiros were scarce, looking for Rhea. Everyone else was scattering to their homelands. Yuri asked Claude if anyone would stay behind to protect the monastery. Claude looked pained telling him he couldn’t spare the manpower.

“Then what do you think my answer would be?” The raw, quiet fury on Yuri’s voice keeps the duke from even trying to press his case then and there.

But despite Yuri’s hurt, Balthus had continued to flip back and forth for several days. Did he want to go home to his family? He hadn’t seen them in years. But that would mean leaving Abyss when it’s already been left entirely to its own devices. But between himself and Holst, they could knock out the Empire quick and easy, right? Then he could come back and… and that’s when he got worried. What if he left this place and found nothing but catacombs when he returned?

A letter had come to Balthus this morning. And fuck. Claude had answered for him in the end. An itemized list of a not insignificant chunk of his debts. Claude couldn’t spare men, but he could spare some money. They could be gone, just like that, if Balthus serves the Alliance during the war.

He’s very close to throwing the letter into the fire before a better idea comes to him.

The letter rests open beside his bed. His reply is folded beneath it, sealed with a hasty dollop of wax. His bags are packed by the door. He’s gonna be hurting if he doesn’t sleep soon, and he’s finally starting to doze. The door clicks open and Balthus flinches awake as Yuri pokes his head into the room, deeply shadowed by the low fire in the hearth. Shit. He hadn’t had the heart to tell Yuri ahead of time. He was just going to leave a note or something because… He watches exactly what he feared would happen unfold in front of him. Yuri glances his way, a little smile pulling at his lips when he sees he’s awake. He steps in, closes the door, stiffens when he sees his bags on the other side and all the emotion drops from his face.

“Sorry,” Balthus murmurs. He pushes up onto his elbows. “But he offered.” Yuri approaches, plucking up the letter when Balthus motions to it. He reads it silently, sets it back down with too much care, stares at the sealed envelope but leaves it where it is. He crawls into bed with him. Balthus heaves a shuddering breath at the warm weight pressing between his thighs. Yuri hasn’t touched him like this since that night in the classroom, weeks ago, and the press of soft, mint touched lips leaves him feeling like he’s been punched in the chest.

“Don’t worry,” Yuri purrs between kisses his hands smoothing down Balthus’ bare torso. “Someone offered me that much money, I would have a hard time turning it down too.”

“I need to,” He gasps. He means taking Claude up on his offer, but in the same moment Yuri is curling his slender fingers about the clothed bulge of his cock and he thinks he needs that pretty fucking bad too.

“I know,” Yuri grins against his mouth. He kneads him. The pad of his finger finds the leaking head and rubs him through his pants. Balthus whimpers. He’s already falling to pieces, struggling to hold onto his train of thought before it’s lost completely to Yuri’s touch.

“But, I meant to,” he gasps as Yuri rubs him with his palm. Goddess, it’s hard to think when Yuri’s looking at him like that, much less to try and come up with a lie. Yuri’s brow lifts, asking, but his eyes only flicker up to Balthus’ face. “I didn’t wanna tell you like this.”

“Shut up,” Yuri says. The sharp, impatient edge in his voice doesn’t match the gentleness of his lips trailing down the side of his neck, the warmth of his body pressed against his own. “I know you never intended to tell me anything.” Balthus swallows. He doesn’t know if he should be scared or not.

“Should have known I’d never get past you,” he pants. Yuri hums. His mouth finds his own and this time Balthus is ready for him. He opens his mouth easily under Yuri’s questing tongue, his hands smoothing down Yuri’s back.

“Never,” Yuri says between kisses. “Can’t keep secrets from me.” Yuri’s hands trail down from shoulder to pecs, squeezing them in two firm handfuls. Balthus kisses him slow and full as Yuri feels around for a nipple with his thumb. Back and forth he teases it into a tight bud. Yuri pinches him. Balthus grunts, jostles Yuri with a buck of his hips. He gets a little twist for his trouble, a flash of sweet pain and Yuri panting against his chin.

“Let me suck you off,” Yuri breathes. He shoves a hand between them. No coy teasing. Yuri grips him through his pants. Balthus twitches against his palm when Yuri’s eyes go wide and hungry.

Yuri adds; “I’m not asking anymore.” He scoots back, dips his head to set his mouth to Balthus’ nipple and drags his tongue over the bud.

“You don’t gotta ask, fuck-” Balthus groans. He leans hard into the headboard as Yuri sucks at his nipple, scrapes his teeth over it gently before he pulls off and continues down. His mouth marks a hot trail along the center of his stomach. Balthus breathes hard, grips the blankets tight at his side as Yuri hooks his fingers into the waist of his pants. He pauses then, long enough to make himself comfortable between Balthus’ legs and give him a fantastic view of Yuri licking his lips as he pulls the fabric down.

“Damn,” he breathes when Balthus’ cock springs free and rests heavy on his belly. Yuri gives him a delighted little smile and as he curls those cool, slender fingers around him Balthus has to look away. Yuri only chuckles, gives him a gentle squeeze, brushes lips wet with gloss and kisses along the swollen ridge.

“Ugh,” he huffs. He glances down. Yuri’s eyes have a wicked glint to them. “You’re gonna kill me playin’ like that.”

“Oh, don’t go yet,” Yuri says, his breath puffs over the leaking head of his cock. He smears his thumb through the precome, purrs when Balthus shudders in pleasure. “A least let me get a taste of this before you go.” And he drags his tongue across the tip. Balthus whines. Yuri’s eyes flutter closed and oh man, he really looks like he’s enjoying it. Yuri licks him again, a little lower, sucks at heated flesh between breaths.

Yuri wraps his lips around him and goes about it with an easy confidence. He’s completely undaunted, even when Balthus growls and digs his fingers into Yuri’s silky hair, pushes in just a hair further. Yuri purrs around him and he feels it deep under his skin. He resists being pressed, but only to take a deep, panting breath. Stroking Balthus with one hand he shifts, turning his lower half onto his hip. His other hand rucks up his shirt, slips into his pants and draws out his own arousal. Balthus bites down on a moan as Yuri strokes himself, slow and easy. Casually reveling in his own need. Balthus thinks he could come like this, just watching Yuri touch himself as he pants over his cock, his wet lips marking hot trails along the length. He could, but his patience lasts perhaps only a handful of seconds before he gets a better grip on his hair and rolls his hips up, smearing himself over Yuri’s cheek.

“Yeah,” Yuri growls. “I know,” Balthus shivers watching Yuri tease himself with the pads of his fingers, whimpers when he presses his tongue at the slit of Balthus’ arousal. The shiver of pleasure under the soft, warm pressure of his tongue leaves him gasping, lightheaded. “Mn, do what you want with me. ‘S better that way.”

“Dangerous, man,” Balthus warns. Yuri only gives his cock a soft, open mouthed kiss and takes him back into his mouth, pressing easily until Balthus slips into his throat.

“Oh fuck-” Balthus gasps. There’s only a little resistance in his throat, but even that eases when Yuri adjusts to his girth. He glances up, the edges of his eyes narrowing. A smile. Balthus’ other hand joins the first, gathers Yuri’s hair at the back of his head. He rocks up, slow and hesitant at first, but Yuri moans around him and he’s completely lost.

He tries to build his pace slow, but Yuri insists otherwise, the hand steadying Balthus’ arousal squeezes him quick, inviting. He only pulls in quick breaths when Balthus gives him the space and then he dips again, his tongue twitching along the ridge when Balthus is stuffing his throat.

“Pretty-” Balthus pants. He’s entranced by the sight of Yuri over his cock. A flush high in his cheeks, eyes bright and hungry, framed by thick lashes wet with tears that he blinks away when Balthus pushes in deep as he can, holds him there just a moment too long before he lets off and lets Yuri suck in a quick breath through his nose. And then Yuri swallows him again, asks for more as he strokes his own cock with an eagerness that betrays his need. Balthus can’t stop himself now; instinct drives him to chase that pleasure, the urge to bury himself in the tight heat behind Yuri’s lips. He whines low in his chest, his belly knotting tight as he nears his peak. “Shit, I’m gonna-” he warns. Yuri only purrs and takes him in to the hilt.

It hits him like he’s been knocked on his back. The high snatches all the air from his lungs in a ragged moan. His fingers tangle tight in Yuri’s hair, pulling him even closer, so his nose brushes his trembling stomach. It takes a long time to leave him too; he can’t catch his breath through the aftershocks. Yuri has to remind him to let him back up, humming around him and pinching the back of his thigh. Balthus releases him, hands up. Yuri still takes his time pulling off of him, licking the oversensitive head as he does.

“Sorry. Hell, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asks as Yuri rests his head on Balthus’ hip, pulling in ragged breaths. He shakes his head. Balthus sees that Yuri is still hard, but the younger man dresses himself again before he can even ask to help.

“Do me a favor, friend,” Yuri gasps against Balthus’ heaving stomach. Balthus brushes sweat slick hair back from Yuri’s flushed face, wonders what the word ‘friend’ means in the moment. Yuri answers by pushing his hand away, licking his lips, eyes set not on Balthus but to the side. Balthus glances. Claude’s fucking letter on the nightstand. Something begins curdling in his chest even before Yuri speaks. “You take that offer, but you tell Claude to send half of whatever he’s offering you to Abyss if you die fighting for him.”

Balthus’ expression must convey the deep, angry hurt he feels pretty well because Yuri’s expression shifts in an instant from calculating, to surprise, to a mask of warmth and want. The bastard even has to gall to kiss his stomach, just above his softening cock. His breath ghosts over his arousal and fuck, he feels another twinge of need. Balthus shoves him off, frustrated that Yuri catches himself and stands beside the bed so gracefully. “Damn, you’re cold.”

“Balthus,” Yuri pleads, as Balthus angrily tucks himself away and sits up. “He can’t put an offer like that on the table and I not even _ask_. Of course, I’m not going to bank on the worst case. I’m not expecting you to die. But- Just in case you do, Abyss needs-”

“Then what the fuck was that just now? Was that what you think _asking_ is? I fucking know what Abyss needs, okay? Believe it or not, I put a lot of thought into this. It’s not like Claude flashed a bag of gold at me and I forgot about everyone down here.” Yuri’s mouth drops open.

“I never said-”

“You didn’t have to!” his snarl echoes in the room. Yuri twitches, surprised, but not cowed. “You make a show of it, put on your charms to get your way. But you don’t have to. Not with me. You can just fucking ask, without anything else, and I’ll do it. I trust you. I’ve always trusted you. So trust me too and don’t play these stupid fucking mind games with me. I don’t want anything from you that you don’t actually want to give. So I’ll leave, and we’ll just forget this even happened.” Yuri’s shoulders relax, his expression soft with what might be hurt, but Balthus doesn’t trust that he can take it at face value.

Yuri takes a step closer, edging into his space. “Balthus.”

“Get out.”

Silently, Yuri turns and slips out into the hall. The door hushes shut behind him and Balthus is left with his own furious, circling thoughts.

He leaves hardly an hour later, the sun still well hidden beyond the horizon when he ascends into the empty monastery courtyard.

  
  


  
  


He meets up with an Alliance camp near the border. He follows them to Derdriu. Claude takes his letter, laughs, and then works him like a dog doing whatever he needs at the moment, but he also makes good on steadily paying. It’s not like he can refuse anyways. Balthus is already there fulfilling his end of the deal. Month after month a single messenger travels to the monastery with a modest sum, so Balthus never finds himself minding that much. Not even as he gathers scars for politics he doesn’t bother to understand no matter how many times Holst tries to explain it to him. It’s just the price of supporting the people he cares about.

He gets to visit his family. His father retires and his brother takes lead of the household. His sister has another kid. He spends his leave in the forests on the Albrecht estate, hunting with his father and his brothers. Throwing nieces and nephews into the pond behind the house. Helps with his mother’s cooking. He gets a tan for the first time in years.

Sure, there’s a war going on, but it doesn’t feel like it. He’s never been more fulfilled than right now.

And just like that, two years have passed. Sure he thinks about what he left behind a lot at first, and he’s sore over Yuri for months. But time passes by. He doesn’t think of Abyss for weeks on end and when he does finally remember it, the guilt is an icy spike in the back of his throat. The money is sent on his behalf. If he wanted to write a letter he doesn’t even know where to begin as far as actually getting it to Abyss. What would he even say, anyways? ‘Sorry for ditching you, is the salary of one singular person getting you through a war? Are you even still alive?’ He can keep distracted enough that it doesn’t plague him but the questions roll around in his mind on occasion. When he goes down into a cellar. When he speaks with a vagrant. When he sees the needy huddled around a smaller church on a march and overhears them lament that Garreg Mach has been abandoned, has become a den of thieves. It feels _wrong_ somehow, that he’s not obsessed with Abyss 24/7. He tells himself that he can’t let himself get distracted. That he’ll die if he’s not focused on a bad day. He thinks it’s true, but it doesn’t feel any better every time he thinks of how he left.

The rumors are what finally get him to make a trip back. The next time Claude lets him loose, late in the winter of 1182, Balthus begs for an advance in pay. Instead of going south, towards home, he cuts west, towards the monastery. He borrows a horse and buys supplies as he goes. Whatever he happens across and thinks Yuri and the folks in Abyss would want. Grain here, cloth there. A chicken, fat and bright white and furious about her cage when they travel, but happy to forgive him when he lets her out for a couple hours when he makes camp at night and offers her food.

He’s less concerned about the den of thieves bit than the fact that the monastery has been abandoned. Yuri can take care of himself, and Abyss, and knowing him, he’s probably running said ‘den’ and spreading the rumors himself. The church being abandoned, however, means that resources might be thinner than they’re used to. But who knows. Maybe Yuri is somehow using the newfound space to his advantage.

Balthus runs through those lines of logic during the entire trek, but as he nears it becomes increasingly difficult to tamp down his anxieties. Yuri’s scrappy, and clever, but it’s also been two years since Balthus has seen him. Who knows what’s happened to Abyss in that time? As he draws near he sees the monastery’s ruined towers on the horizon, the possibilities bounce around in his head. They could have starved, for died of cold. Maybe there’s different thieves down there now and the halls are littered with corpses.

No. Never. They’re fine. Yuri would never allow that. Worst case, they’re simply not there, and Yuri has packed everyone up and migrated them somewhere safer. But they were still getting the money, right? Claude would tell him if he hadn’t been able to get the money to Abyss.

Right?

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Balthus murmurs to himself as he enters the church grounds. He finds a secluded corner shielded from the wind to tie down his horse, shakes out his blanket across its back and over the chicken’s cage to keep both of them warm while he looks around. He cuts through the main hall towards the stairway to Abyss. His breath creates steaming puffs in front of his face. Ice and dust crunch under his boots, muffled by a wet and mildewed carpet as he picks his way through the rubble. The silence of this place is oppressive. Every step echoes up and up against the high ceilings, like this building is desperately clinging to any sign of life passing through its halls. Balthus takes a deep breath. “Hey! Anybody here?” a pause, and nervous jitters leave his hands shaking. “Yuri?”

The door to the dining hall shudders. Balthus flinches. But the door catches on a heavy stone and, after shaking against under someone shoving against it, he hears a soft curse from the other side.

“Balthus?” A pale hand appears in the doorway, waving. “That you?” Balthus crosses the room, nearly slipping on a patch of ice slick carpet in his rush. He grips the door and pulls it open, shoving the rock along and carving an arc through the ice across the floor.

He traps Yuri in a crushing hug. He wheezes, but more or less accepts his fate. Balthus marvels at how small his hands feel against his shoulders, fingers digging into the thick fur of his jacket. Balthus squeezes him, lifts him up and Yuri laughs in his ear. “I was wondering if you would ever come back,” Yuri says. Guilt cuts through his jacket just as surely as the wind outside.

“Ah, sorry. It’s been busy,” he says. It’s not enough, but when he sets Yuri down and sees him smiling, he seems to have accepted the excuse. “There was a lot of catching up to do. What are you doing up here?” Yuri motions to the lumpy bags at his feet.

“When it’s cold I can squirrel away more food up here. I was just getting something for dinner and making sure no one was, you know, wandering the halls and yelling and drawing lots of attention.” A meaningful look.

“Sorry.”

“I would have pulled a knife if I hadn’t recognized your voice. It’s dangerous out here,” Yuri scolds him gently. Yuri goes for the bag, but Balthus picks it up for him and slings it over his shoulder.

“You’re okay?” he asks. Yuri shrugs, and suddenly some of the joy leaves his expression. Awkwardness falls between them in an almost tangible wall.

“It could be worse. It’s definitely harder, because we don’t have the church’s protection right now, but we’re not suffering. Most of my contacts are still good. And, you know, someone in the Alliance is _very_ generous and sends us money. Even when certain people treated him unfairly the last time they saw each other.” he says. A pointed look. Somehow, Balthus worries for a moment that that might have somehow been the wrong thing to do, but quickly realizes it’s Yuri poking around for a lingering grudge. After a long, tense moment, Yuri reaches up. Cradles Balthus’ face in his hands. Pulls him down. Kisses him slow. “Thank you. I really mean it. It’s made all the difference.” Balthus wonders how he could have ever been so angry with him. Yuri follow Balthus out into the main hall, but when he turns towards Abyss, Balthus touches his arm and motions the opposite way.

“I have to find a place for my horse. I brought some stuff with me. For Abyss,” he says. Yuri smiles. “I bought you a chicken,” he adds. Yuri laughs, barely restrained joy. It echoes in the empty hall. They stop by the stables and Balthus’ horse adds to their stock by a third. Yuri is even more delighted with his new chicken than Balthus expects. He unbuttons his jacket and tucks her against his chest. She doesn’t resist him because she enjoys the warmth too much, even when Yuri bends over and struggles to tuck a bolt of wool under his arm, gives up, and simply announces that he’ll ask a couple people to get the rest of it when they go downstairs. He, and the first couple men he runs into downstairs, seem pleased to have such a chore in the first place.

Yuri takes the hen to a small pen beside the bar, depositing her among almost a dozen others and showing her off to a small group of children coming to greet them. Most of them don’t recognize him, standing quietly to the side, they’re too young, and he’s been away for too long. It almost makes him feel out of place until Hapi rounds the corner asking for Yuri, sees him. Her eyes go wide and she turns and yells “Coco!” into the bar.

It’s deep into the night before Balthus gets a chance to leave. He talks to the other three wolves for hours, and the conversation just drags on longer every time someone walks into the bar, recognizes him, and joins in. His throat his dry, and he’s got a surprisingly light buzz going for how long he’s been drinking. Must not have been able to fit much drinking in between news and stories. He heads towards his old room on habit, doesn’t even know if someone else had moved in during his absence. But Yuri follows him closely, loops his arm around his own, fingers pressing gently into his palm.

“Come to my room? Please?”

The fire is down to coals in his room. Balthus waits quietly, sinking into one of the two chairs while Yuri stacks a few pieces of wood into the fire to get it going again. He reserves a small stick and uses it to light more candles around the room, and as he does, the furrow in his brow becomes more and more apparent.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Balthus asks, when Yuri tosses his match back into the fire. Yuri’s quiet for a long moment as he meanders closer. There’s no more of that relaxed happiness from before. Now he’s anxious again. Balthus thinks of that conversation in the classroom one night, years back. His expression is much the same. “What are you thinkin’ about so hard?” He expects Yuri to sit in the chair next to him, but instead he lingers in front of him, just out of arms reach. Balthus clenches his hands into fists to resist the urge to reach out and draw him in closer. Yuri doesn’t seem any bigger than he was in the past. His hair is a bit longer, but he still does his makeup the same way, still wears that soft, floral cologne. The biggest change is in his face. His eyes are different. Less jumped up and guarded, but not relieved. He’s _tired._ Only the Goddess and Yuri knew what he’d gone through keeping Abyss running in the past two years. Balthus aches over the fact that he hasn’t got a clue.

“I’m sorry,” Yuri says. There’s a pregnant pause as Balthus works that over. He’s struggling. Yuri tips his head.

“For what?” Balthus finally asks.

“For.. You know, how we left off,” Yuri’s brow furrows. Almost impatient, but not letting himself get that far. “I don’t think you’d ever been so angry with me, but I never got a chance to talk to you again before you left,” Yuri says. Then he lets out a long breath. “I was mad too, for awhile, but I’ve had a long time to think about it. You were right. Whether I meant to or not, I was manipulating you.”

“Oh,” He hadn’t forgotten about that, but over time the hurt had cooled. An old bruise better forgotten about. “Nah, forget about that. It’s not a big deal anymore,” he says. Yuri heaves a tired sigh. Less relief… but more that he should have known better.

“Still… You were away for so long,” he presses. Balthus answers by giving in and reaching out to him, smoothing his hands over Yuri’s slender waist.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone this long. It was a good idea after all,” Balthus says. He spreads his knees as Yuri takes a small step between them, cool fingers resting on his forearms. Familiar, and shockingly nostalgic. “Too bad I had a better idea. Before you, too. Unbelievable, huh?”

“You did?” Yuri’s eyes narrow slightly as he thinks. “You bastard. I should have just opened your mail.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Balthus teases. He knows he wouldn’t have cared at the time if he had, but mentioning it now feels too much like twisting the knife. Maybe… five years from now. Then it’ll be a funny story of how stupid they both are. “I don’t think he was expecting it. But, I had already bothered to get all the way to Derdriu to hand it to him personally so... What was he gonna do? Send me back? Would’a been happy either way.”

“Smart man,” Yuri hums. He leans into Balthus then, and Balthus shivers with how quickly he responds to the soft breath on his neck. “But I’m done with this. What about us?” Yuri flattens himself against Balthus’ chest with a purr.

“Us~?” Balthus asks playfully.

“Mhm, I missed you. It’s been two years. I wanna do it right this time.”

“Oh,” Balthus growls. His hands shift up to Yuri’s chest to find that the younger man is already working his jacket open for him. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Yuri’s laugh bubbles over Balthus’ head as he lays a string of open mouthed kisses down the side of his neck, down his shoulder as the jacket comes off and he can nose aside the loose fitting shirt he wears beneath.

His mouth tracks over a bare shoulder, his hand bunching up the shirt at the small of Yuri’s back to reveal more of his soft, pale skin, until the younger man huffs at him and complains that he’s stretching the fabric.

“Sorry,” Balthus says, instead attacking the soft little spot behind his ear while Yuri squirms in his lap pulling off his jacket. “Been thinkin’ about you since I left. Worried about you. Kinda regretting that I didn’t get to hold you like this before I went,” he peppers messy kisses over Yuri’s jaw and cheek as he talks, his hands wandering over his torso and urging him closer. He feels Yuri trying to pull his shirt off. He stubbornly ignores him, nipping at his ear until Yuri pushes him away with a hand on his jaw.

“Believe it or not, I missed that too,” Yuri says, dropping his shirt to the floor. Balthus tries to dip his head to get at his shoulders again, but Yuri leads him up, hands framing his face. He kisses him. Slow at first, chaste until Balthus starts trying to press, and only then does Yuri open for him. He tastes of rum and orange and through he allows Balthus to press into his mouth, Yuri is the one who controls the pace. His hands spread across Balthus’ chest, finding a nipple through his shirt and pinching him hard when he gets too eager. But he still laughs when Balthus only growls, nips the corner of his mouth. His hand drops to grip his hips and Yuri bites him back, soothing away the sting in his lip with his tongue.

“Behave. I have to pace you because you’ll come before I’m done with you,” he says.

Balthus grumbles. “You think so?”

“Yeah.” He arches when Balthus responds by gripping the taut curve of his ass, tips his head to let him nibble along his jaw. His own hand sneaks down between them and palms Balthus through his pants. “It’s incredibly easy to get you excited.”

Balthus rolls into him, shivering when Yuri digs his fingers in around him. “Well it’s real easy to get excited over someone pretty as you,” he says. Yuri chuckles, looks down and pretends to be too busy outlining Balthus’s cock to pay him any attention. Balthus feels more than sees the flush on his cheeks as he kisses him brow to jaw. He tries to hide it by ducking his head further, grinding the heel of his hand into his arousal.

“But not _too_ excited, I hope.”

“You think this is my first rodeo? Nah, I’m gonna rock your world, babe.” The pet name slips out without him thinking. Yuri stiffens, but turns his head, sweeps his tongue into his mouth and wraps his arms around his shoulders.

“Prove it then,” Yuri purrs. Balthus bumps him closer, grips him by the backs of the thighs and stands. He doesn’t weigh much more than he remembers. He carries him to the bed, drops him onto the mattress with little ceremony. Yuri, never as delicate as he appeared, takes it in stride. He starts working on his boots but curses when Balthus gets in his way pulling at the laces of his pants the instant Balthus has flung his shirt to the floor. He tries to bat him off. Balthus responds by tugging his hips to the very edge of the mattress.

“Gimme a couple seconds at least-” Yuri starts, struggling with Balthus’ hand.

“Nah. Dare’s a dare, Yuri’ He gets the knot undone, tugs them loose with a hard jerk.

“Don’t tear them!” Yuri scolds, but he’s laughing as he arches, and lets Balthus tug his pants and undergarments down to his knees. Balthus then struggles with his boots himself, but soon enough he’s tossing it all haphazardly to the middle of the room. Balthus presses himself over him, forehead resting over his heart.

“Mn, thought about this a lot,” Balthus rumbles. He kisses, feels his heartbeat fluttering under his lips, then he nuzzles to the side and sucks a soft, pink nipple into his mouth. He tastes sweet as he looks, all warmth and smelling of clean skin and the last traces of perfume. Yuri gasps and arches for his mouth. He sucks at him firmly, pinches him with his teeth. Yuri whines, tangling his fingers in Balthus’ hair to hold him tight to himself and when he pushes his hips closer his stiff cock bumps wet against his stomach.

“Goddess, me too-” he hitches as Balthus suckles at his chest. Balthus moves down, kissing over his stomach, his hips, dropping to his knees beside the bed. Yuri’s knee bumps him in the side of the head as he turns and jerks the nightstand drawer open.

“Lemme do it,” Balthus says. Yuri busies himself with shoving a pillow under his head as Balthus pulls out a little vial of oil. “Oh, you’re making yourself comfortable?” Yuri hums, nodding.

“I’m getting ready for you to ‘rock my world,’ just like you threatened,” he teases. Balthus kisses the soft inside of his thigh and Yuri sighs, stroking his hair back from his face.

“Fine then. Good that you get comfy while you can still think about it,” he says. He sets the oil down beside him, grips Yuri by one thigh and kisses the point of his hip, then just below his navel, then drags his tongue up the length of his cock. Yuri purrs, strains to press closer to him, but Balthus holds him down with one hand on his hip. The other steadies his cock as he drags his tongue tongue across the leaking, salt tasting head and wraps his lips around him. It’s been awhile since he’s done this. Not since before he started living in Abyss. It takes him several seconds to remember how to place his lips, how to press his tongue firm along the ridge and adjust to how he fits in his mouth when he swallows around him. But if Yuri notices him fumbling, he doesn’t seem to mind, because he gasps his name all the same, pulling him closer with his hands tangled in his hair.

“Damn,’ Yuri pants. Balthus strokes what he can’t take in his mouth, a little miffed that he can’t manage it when, Goddess- the feeling of himself buried to the hilt in Yuri’s throat is so vivid even years later. He settles his arm across Yuri’s hips to keep him from pushing further. He turns his eyes up to watch him as he starts to bob his head. Yuri moans, flushed to his chest. There’s a thin, white scar on his neck, just his above his collar that Balthus doesn’t ever remember seeing.His hand clings at Balthus’ wrist at his hip as if he were thinking of trying to pull him off. He shivers, but he meets his eyes boldly. He’s too confident, as always, so Balthus tries to set him off kilter by dropping the hand around his cock and brushing tight balls with the backs of his fingers. Yuri whimpers, flinches as if he hadn’t meant to the pin him tightly between his thighs. Balthus prods his entrance with his thumb. Yuri’s arousal twitches hard on his tongue, and he tugs at his hair until he pushes at Balthus’ throat and the older man growls around him in warning.

“More-” Yuri demands softly. Only remembers to let Balthus go when the older man pinches his ass. “I’m not sorry,” he pants when Balthus sits up and starts taking his revenge on his inner thigh, sucking a dark bruise into the soft, sensitive skin until Yuri finally hisses.

“Never expected you to be,” Balthus hums. He grabs the oil and stands. Yuri already looks winded, eyes wide and dark as Balthus tugs the laces of his pants open, fingers gripping jealously at the sheets as he draws out his cock. He lets Balthus pour some of the oil into his palm before he holds his hand out for it.

“Give me that,” Yuri says. Balthus hands it over. Then he tries to make him fumble it, pressing one slick finger into him without warning. Yuri’s mouth goes slack around a little moan, but while his fingers begin to shake, he still manages to close the bottle tight and set it aside.

“N-nice try-” he pants, rubbing his hands together. Balthus presses his finger in deep, growling at the tightness, the heat, the way Yuri bites his lip when he feels along his walls.

“It’s that easy then?” Balthus asks. “Not teasin’ you hard enou-gh!” he chokes on the last word when Yuri reaches down and grips him in both hands, slick palms slipping along his length. He groans, rocks hard into his hands. “I’m not then,” he accuses. Yuri gives him a cheeky smirk. Bites it when Balthus sinks a second finger in beside the first. He sighs through closed lips, strokes Balthus with a shaking hand as the other traces circles around the leaking head with his thumb.

Balthus can feel him stretch around his fingers and takes it easy on him for a few seconds until he relaxes. Then he backs out of Yuri’s grip because he can’t _think_ with those clever fingers questing around his cock. Yuri looks far too smug at his retreat. Instead, one hand closes around his own arousal, the other pinches at a nipple, leaving it slick and shining in the low light. Balthus can’t resist, he leans down and bites the other one, sinking his fingers in to the knuckle. Yuri moans softly and arches into him, his knuckles brushing along Balthus’ stomach as he strokes himself. Balthus curves his fingers in him, feels around until Yuri jolts and traps him tightly between his knees again.

“A little-” Yuri starts. Balthus suckles at his chest, listens to Yuri’s shaky breaths, feels how his body bows towards him, shows him just how he should move his fingers. His hand moves over his cock loose and quick between them, Balthus’ bumps heavy against the back of Yuri’s thigh. Balthus thinks ‘Maybe not so deep’ and in an instant Yuri shudders, pulls in a sharp gasp over his head. “There-” he whines. Balthus’ cock gives a hard twitch. He’s never heard such need and desperation in Yuri’s voice. “Fuck, more-”

Balthus sits up to see Yuri shaking, his finger cinched tight around the base of his cock. He’s doing his best to take slow breaths, desperate to keep himself calm when Balthus keeps nudging that sensitive little spot within him. “Fucking hell Balthus _stop_ -” he gasps. There’s something in the high, needy tension in his voice that just eats through the rest of Balthus’ patience. He withdraws his fingers, lines up his cock instead. He presses, presses, and the thick head slips in all at once. Yuri moans, loud and sharp. His scrabbles at Balthus’ chest when he presses over him, digs his nails in.

“Easy-” he whines. Balthus pulls his hand up, kisses a wet palm.

“Sorry, baby,” he holds still, but it’s taking everything in him. Yuri’s body is scorching around his cock. There’s an animal in the back of his mind that wants nothing but to rut into the pretty little thing beneath him. “Hurts?” he asks instead.

Yuri shakes his head. “Gonna come,” he pants thinly. Oh, Balthus thinks, kissing down and nibbling at Yuri’s wrist. If that’s it… He drops Yuri’s hand, both of his own gripping the younger man tight by the waist. He thrusts forward, slow but unrelenting.

There’s a certain, definite point when it becomes a _lot_ for Yuri. It starts with a whine, rises to a deep, panting moan when Balthus finally bottoms out. Yuri looks at him with wide eyes, spreading a hand low across his belly and shivering. Balthus laughs, rocking into him slow and deep.

“Yeah? Too much for you?” he asks. His cock twitches inside him and Yuri _must_ feel it because his eyes take on a hungry edge.

“I should have fucked you years ago.”

It’s all the invitation Balthus needs to snap into him in earnest. Yuri yelps, excited, his body clinging tight around his cock as Balthus fucks him. The older man leans hard over him, pinning him tight to the bed as he growls against his collar. Yuri holds him close by the shoulders as Balthus holds him bruising tight, the bed creaking with every rough snap of his hips. Yuri curses in his ear, nails digging white hot scratches between his shoulders. He struggles under the power of the man over him. Balthus can tell he wants to rut against his stomach.

“I got ya,” Balthus pants, out of breath. He doesn’t slow as he fits a hand between them, wraps Yuri’s cock in his hand. He strokes him fast, messy, his fingers slipping easily through oil and precome. Yuri bucks eagerly, as much as he possibly can under Balthus’ weight, once, twice, then he’s still. His body grips Balthus cock so tightly that he slows to a near stop as he feels Yuri shudder through a pulsing orgasm around him. “That’s it, baby,” Balthus purrs, sucking another bruise into Yuri’s neck as he whimpers. “Feel so good around me…”

“Keep going-” Yuri says.

“Hm…” Balthus nuzzles into him, rocks into him gentle.

“Keep fucking me, man-” Yuri rasps, bucking his hips insistently. He pushes at Balthus’ shoulders to make him sit up on his elbows, squeezes him tight between his thighs. Balthus feels he has little choice but to obey him. Yuri’s hands shake where he steadies himself on Balthus’ forearms. He’s flushed down to his chest, belly tense and stained, shining slick in the low light. He’s a mess, but he’s never been more gorgeous. The tension gathers in his hips, it becomes harder to keep his pace and everything takes on such a sharp edge an instant before his high races through him. He stills with a tight groan, his cock jerking hard into Yuri’s eager body.

As his high eases back, he realizes just how hot the room is. He’s pulls out, watches himself drip out of Yuri with heady fascination. Yuri laughs under his stare. It’s cut off by an overstimulated whimper when Balthus gently teases the abused hole with his fingers, dipping back into him for a moment as he leans in and kisses him.

“You’re finding me a bath,” Yuri says tiredly, between kisses.

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re gonna bathe with me.”

“Oho~ I like the sound of that,” Balthus says, gives him a hopeful look. He shifts, climbs into bed beside him.

“I’m done for tonight,” Yuri answers. He turns with a sore huff. He pushes into Balthus’ space, close enough that the heat mingles between them, but doesn’t overwhelm. “However,” teasing, stroking at Balthus’ chest. “How long can you stay?”

“Few weeks,” Balthus says. He runs his hand down Yuri’s side, brushing a scar near his hip. He kisses him, cooler now. More lonely. “I have to be back in Derdriu by new year but… I don’t know. I worry about you, and Abyss, a lot.” Some of these scars were still pink and new. How many could have been avoided if he’d been there? “I can stay. Tell Claude ‘Thanks for everything but you guys need me-’”

“No. You’ll go back.” Yuri cuts in, softly. “I missed you too. You don’t know how much I worried about you but…” he punctuates it with a long, lingering kiss. “I wanna get this war over with. Claude is smart. I think he can do it. And I think he can do it without hurting you.” He pushes fully into Balthus now, hugging him close despite the mess and the heat.

Balthus hugs him close, strokes his silky hair. “I don’t like you telling me that.” Yuri nips the pulse in his throat.

“Go. I’ll always be here when you come back.”

**Author's Note:**

> I exist vaguely on twitter @Quiddid


End file.
